Saving Faith

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. - John 8:24

    One of the great wonders of salvation in Christ the Lord is the simplicity and singularity of faith in Him. All false religions, false faiths, and false gospels, always add to or take away from the simplicity of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as he is declared in the Scriptures by the faith which he gives in regeneration. The faith that he gives always has one object: the Lord Jesus Christ. True saving faith is not faith in the work that is done, but in he who has done the work.

    The work that is done—redemption, atonement, sanctification, justification, regeneration—is efficacious because of him who redeemed, atoned, sanctified, justified and has given us spiritual life. Saving faith is in the person of Christ, in him who did these wonderful things for us. Essentially, we cannot separate Christ from his work, yet faith makes a distinction. The distinction is this: Faith looks to, trusts in, and believes in the living person Christ, and sees all things in salvation in Him. Saving faith embraces, not only the doctrine of Christ, but, first and foremost, embraces Christ in whom all truth is embodied and revealed. I fear that there are some, maybe many, who believe in the blessed doctrine of grace, but who do not have faith in the Christ of the doctrines.

    Again I stress this scriptural truth. Anyone can embrace doctrinal truth, but it is only those whom God has effectually called to faith in Christ in regeneration that can and will embrace Christ himself, and live upon Him. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you (Jn 6:53). Truth is declared, the Gospel is preached, and man may give assent to the truth; yet no one is saved until sinners are vitally joined to Christ in living union, which is the operation of the sovereign Spirit of the living God.

    This is the simplicity of the Gospel. We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:23-24). No matter what one knows, until he knows Christ, he has no saving interest in Christ or claim to eternal life. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (Jn 17:3).